Hot Extrusion of ZnSb-Based Thermoelectric Materials; A Novel Approach for Scale-Up Production

Hot extrusion is employed to produce bulk ZnSb and Zn13Sb10 thermoelectric materials. The extrusion parameters are optimized to achieve high purity products with high density and acceptable mechanical strength for further fabrication processing. Microstructural analysis is performed to investigate the products. X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry show high stability of the ZnSb phase during the extrusion that lead to high purity products. However, the Zn13Sb10 compound decomposes during the extrusion, yielding a bulk sample consisting of several other phases. Hot extrusion shows a great potential for scaled up production of high quality ZnSb thermoelectric materials.